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Judge issues tentative gag order in Greitens case

By Ben Striker & Brian Robbins
 
St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison issued a tentative gag order on Tuesday to all parties involved in the invasion of privacy case against Missouri Governor Eric Greitens.
 
Following a motion filed by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner Tuesday afternoon, Burlison said he would sign the order, which would prohibit all parties and attorneys involved in the case from making any statements outside of the courtroom that may taint the jury pool.
 
Burlison said it was the duty of the court to avoid tainting the jury pool’s position, and that’s why the partial gag order is in place.
 
The gag order would prevent any party from talking about depositions, the identity of witnesses, testimony, evidence or personal belief in the case in question.
 
Gardner said her office filed the motion after Greitens’ defense attorney, Ed Dowd, made a number of appearances on local TV and radio stations trying to discredit the woman at the center of the case.
 
“We’re here because they went to the news media to talk about the deposition of a victim,” Gardner said.
 
Greitens’ defense team stated during the hearing that if the gag order went into place and the Missouri House investigative committee’s report was to come out, the governor would be defenseless to defend himself.
 
“The idea of putting a gag order on the governor while a state investigation is taking place is extraordinary,” Greitens’ defense attorney James Martin said.
 
Martin added that the gag order “would be reckless to put out a month before (trial).”
The latest news comes just days after the governor’s defense attorneys interviewed the woman, identified as K.S., in an hours-long deposition on Friday.
 
Her attorney responded to what he called the attempted discrediting of the witness by calling for the complete transcription of her testimony to be released.
 
More importantly, her attorney stated that Greitens has “on multiple occasions” admitted to taking a photo of the woman without her consent and threatened to release it if she ever spoke of the affair.